Blizzcon, the annual convention celebrating all things Blizzard Entertainment, is in full swing for 2016. As is the normal, the opening ceremonies were reserved for revealing a swath of upcoming content for all of Blizzard’s currently supported games. This year, some fans thought they knew what to expect, only to find a couple of surprises along the way. Whether you’re a fan of Overwatch, Diablo, or even Hearthstone, Blizzard had something for you. Take a look at all the exciting content coming to the Blizzard library!
[tps_header]All Eyes On Overwatch[/tps_header]
Things kicked into gear with the reveal of the newest character to join Overwatch’s roster: the hacker Sombra. After months of teasing fans in an extended alternate reality game, Sombra made her debut in a new animated trailer that has become the crux of the lore of Overwatch. Working on the side of enemies like Widowmaker and Reaper, Sombra shows herself to be far more lighthearted than her co-horts. Equipped with machine guns, a quick teleportation unit, cloaking, and the ability to disable other players, Sombra seems poised to introduce a new type of disruptive play to the game. Sombra will be playable on the floor at the convention and available for testing players next week. She will be released sometime after testing.
In other Overwatch news, Blizzard is starting the ‘Overwatch League,’ a new form of competitive play that the company hopes will change the way eSport leagues are currently being run for other games. In Overwatch League, teams will be permanent, meaning that poor performance won’t automatically disqualify a team from the next season-much like most American sports. All created teams will be built at the city level, meaning teams will be rooted in local culture than an agreed upon name or sponsor. Blizzard hopes this will expand fans past following a particular player or lose interest if a roster rotates. The league will also include an extended off-season, meaning it will only run through early spring and conclude every August. According to Blizzard executive vice president of corporate operations Gio Hunt, this is meant to “…make sure that there’s a third-party ecosystem that exists outside of the Overwatch League. While the Overwatch League is the pinnacle of competitive Overwatch, we want to make sure that there’s a robust ecosystem outside of that. You can’t just build the top of the pyramid. You have to have the whole pyramid, right?” Blizzard has invited team owners from both traditional sports and existing eSports leagues to Blizzcon this year so they can learn more about Overwatch League.
Finally, Overwatch will see a new Arcade mode filled with different play modes replacing Weekly Brawls and two new maps: Echopoint Antarctica and Oasis. These are still in early stages of development and will have more details in the coming months. Quick Play is also getting a new update: now teams will be limited to a single copy of a character. For anyone who’s been stuck on a team of Hanzos or put up against a team of Bastions, this is a relief.
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[tps_header]Crossovers And Bonuses Abound In Heroes of the Storm [/tps_header]
Blizzard’s entry into the MOBA genre gets two new heroes added later this year, both hailing from World of Warcraft: Varian Wrynn and Ragnaros. Varian is the first character in HotS to be able to played as two different classes; either a shield warrior or deadly assassin. Not as many details are known about Ragnaros’ unique abilities from the announcement, though it is safe to assume the monstrous raid boss will need to be scaled down in size to join the fight. Both characters are playable at the convention, with Varian being available for testing next week and Ragnaros in early December. Both will be released in full sometime after testing.
If you didn’t get enough Overwatch, Blizzard has you covered. Playing 15 games of HotS with a friend will unlock Overwatch guest character Zarya permanently along with a new Oni Genji skin in Overwatch. Playing 30 games will give even more character unlocks and other rewards, but only for HotS. Both games will need to be connected to a Battle.net account in order to redeem this. That promotion runs November 15th to January 4th.
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[tps_header]Starcraft 2 Adding More Co-Op Missions, Finishing Nova Missions[/tps_header]
Not nearly as big of announcements lined up for the aging game, but Blizzard still had some updates for StarCraft fans. The third and final Nova Mission will be released on November 22nd, allowing Blizzard to finally wrap up the narrative around the wayward protagonist of the never released StarCraft Ghost. Also, new co-op missions will be added; including a new co-op commander mission led by Alexei Stukov. Alexei is an infested Terran, meaning he is actually a Zerg class. Alexei is also the vice-commander of the UED Expeditionary Fleet.
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[tps_header]Hearthstone’s Next Expansion Hits The Street[/tps_header]
The Warcraft inspired digital card game Hearthstone will see another expansion before the end of the year. Called Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, player will experience new cards meant to explore the seedy criminal element established in the trading outpost town found in World of Warcraft. Three crime families run the syndicates in Gadgetzan that will all be encountered in the expansion. Most notable is the Kabal, who will introduce tri-class cards, meaning that they possess cards that will be considered mage, priest, and warlock cards all at once. An example of how this would be played can be seen in Kabal Courier, which uses Battlecry and allows players to discover a mage, priest, or warlock. Undoubtedly these will become invaluable in modern Hearthstone play. More cards are set to be revealed throughout the convention, and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan will be available for purchase in December.
[tps_header]Diablo 3 Reminisces About The Past[/tps_header]
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls has two content updates on the horizon, both will be welcome by longtime fans of the franchise. First, Blizzard has heard the requests of the playerbase and will finally make the Necromancer playable. The Necromancer has not been seen since Diablo 2, and it is that Necromancer that forms the inspiration for Diablo 3’s new one. This character is being added as a “character pack,” meaning that the Necromancer will be more like an addition to Diablo 3’s existing classes.
Also, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise, Diablo 3 will get a taste of the original Diablo. An update called The Darkening of Tristram will take players to a 16-level dungeon that hides the four main bosses of Diablo. While playing The Darkening of Tristram, the graphical output of Diablo 3 will have filters active to recreate the aesthetic of the 1996 classic and players will be locked to an eight way run like the original did.
No release date was given for either update, but The Darkening of Tristram will be in testing next week. The Necromancer character pack will be a part of a content update in 2017. If you want either of these new features, you will need to have the Reaper of Souls expansion of Diablo 3.
It is very clear from Blizzcon 2016 that Blizzard plans on keeping the mission of maintaining their games as long as they can. Overwatch is obviously the company’s new favorite, but there are reasons to fire back up any of the Blizzard titles you may have in your library coming in the next few months. Let us know in the comments if anything from Blizzcon has you excited!
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